Forest decry ref’s decision before Liverpool’s late winner

Referee Paul Tierney’s decision not to return the ball to Nottingham Forest after a restart, minutes before Liverpool’s 99th-minute winner was wrong, Forest’s referee analyst said.

Forest’s 1-0 home Premier League defeat to Liverpool on Saturday ended in chaos after the final whistle with Tierney surrounded by Forest’s enraged staff, ultimately resulting in coaching staff member Steven Reid being shown a red card.

Tierney had stopped play due to Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate’s head injury while Forest were attacking and forward Callum Hudson-Odoi was in possession of the ball.

Play was then restarted with an uncontested drop ball that was given to Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, which led to Liverpool progressing up the pitch and eventually winning the match thanks to Darwin Nunez’s header.

“The law states that, if the referee is going to stop the game — which he is entitled to for a head injury — the ball has to go back to the team that has possession. Forest clearly had possession,” Forest’s referee analyst, Mark Clattenburg, said.

“What we will be doing is speaking to the [Professional Game Match Officials Ltd] — with my relationships that I have with the PGMOL and the Premier League, and we will discuss what happened on the field of play today, and we will look at the course of action in the future.

“The owner [Evangelos Marinakis] is quite upset — he wants to see results and he feels that another decision has gone against the club.”

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said Tierney had made the same decision against his team earlier in the half.

“This happened exactly the same way as it did in the first half, just the other way round — I would now assume that is the rule,” Klopp said.

“I understand the anger from Nottingham of course.

“[But] it happened twice and it was handled exactly the same, so I don’t really see the reason for the discussions.”

With 98 minutes played at the City Ground it seemed Liverpool were set to drop two crucial points in the title race but Nunez struck a last-gasp winner.

It was the 18th time Liverpool have scored a winner beyond 90 minutes in the Premier League since Klopp took charge but few felt more important as the Reds maintained the relentless pressure at the top of the table.

Klopp’s side’s eighth win in nine league games left them on 63 points from 27 games, four points ahead of champions Manchester City, who were due to host Manchester United later on Sunday, and five ahead of Arsenal, who play Sheffield United on Monday.

Fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-1 and keep the pressure on fourth-placed Aston Villa, who held off a spirited second-half comeback from Luton Town in Saturday’s late game to win 3-2.

Timo Werner struck the equaliser, his first goal for Tottenham, with Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min wrapping up the points for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Everton’s relief at having four points handed back to them in midweek after they appealed against a 10-point sanction for breaking Premier League financial rules was soured as they went down 3-1 at home to West Ham United.

Chelsea fought back to earn a point against Brentford in a 2-2 draw after defender Axel Disasi headed an 83rd-minute equaliser in the West London derby.

Fulham and Newcastle United had 3-0 home wins against Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.

Nunez, who started on the bench after recovering from a thigh injury, kept Liverpool’s title destiny firmly in their own hands as he glanced in Alexis Mac Allister’s cross to spark wild scenes on the away bench and away end.

Forest remained in 17th place and their despair was in stark contrast to Liverpool’s joy.

“Pretty special afternoon. It’s been a tricky schedule,” Klopp, whose injury-hit side won the League Cup final last weekend and who face Manchester City next week, said.

“This game didn’t go easy for us. We didn’t have a great rhythm and the boys felt the intensity for the first time.

“It’s pretty special what the boys did. To get to that points tally was a big fight. It never was easy.”

Reuters